NCAA MEN'S FINAL FOUR

March 25, 1998

Bill Guthridge

Rick Majerus

RICK MAJERUS: Well, you know, he's been instrumental, but I would -- I mean, obviously, he's a better player than Drew Hansen, but I think that every player is instrumental in your success or you're not going -- Drew Hansen is has his space properly and Andre Miller can drive. Andre Miller is a point guard, which is probably the extension of the coach on the floor and the most important position, but, you know, I think he's really come into his own and he's developed as a defender. His outside shooting has become very good and I give him all the credit in the world. He works his butt off.

RICK MAJERUS: What part of it is for me?

RICK MAJERUS: And that was? I'm sorry. I'm lost.

RICK MAJERUS: I can't say that. I mean, it was fun to coach Van Horn and I think it would be more fun this year with him. And I think it's a little bit -- I think the players probably enjoy the absence of Keith to a certain extent only from the fact -- like Andre Miller said very respectfully -- when Keith came back to have his jersey retired, he said, I want to show Keith I can prove I'm a good player, too. And he didn't mean that disparaging at all. He meant that as though, you know, I've got a little bit of game here myself so I think there's -- I don't think -- I think it's different circumstances, but all things being equal, I'd rather have had Keith this year than not.

BILL GUTHRIDGE: Ed Cota has really been great to coach. He's a great young man who has been through some difficult times with his parents being in a serious car wreck back in the 8th grade and he's a delight to coach. He's got such great savvy and feel for the game and he's just delightful to be around. He's quiet, a very quiet person. But once to get to know him, he really has a lot of great qualities.

RICK MAJERUS: Well, I don't know that we're definitely going to have Miller on Cota the entire time. But I think Cota is a terrific passer. He's an exceptional ball handler and he seems like he can go very well either right or left and he's a very determined defender and a very cerebral player. He's an extension of Keith Guthridge on the floor. Andre Miller with the match up is a very good point guard as well. We don't have to hypothesize about conclusions, we'll find out on Saturday, but I know that we respect Cota's athletic ability and especially his gutty determination.

BILL GUTHRIDGE: Well, Shammond has had a great year for us and a great career, he had a great year last year, and one of the things that motivates Shammond -- as I think it does a lot of athletes, but I think especially Shammond -- is when someone tells him he can't do something because he wasn't recruited out of high school, he went to prep school, and if somebody says he couldn't dribble his left hand, he worked on it, or if he's not a good shooter, he works on it. And I know he was disappointed in the Arizona game last year on his poor shooting and I think that is -- has made him work even harder this year to try and get back there. But he's certainly had a great year and he's thrilled to be back.

RICK MAJERUS: Well, I know, I think, probably defensive field goal percentage. I'd like to think if we're defending, they're not shooting such a good percentage.

RICK MAJERUS: Jeff, for me, the biggest difference has been talking to the press like this or -- Dean always did that. But it's-- Rick and I were talking just together before everybody got on the line how much of a zoo it is; everybody's coming out of the woodwork wanting tickets and needing this and needing that. It happens so fast, it's not anything that you can plan in advance for. But it's a great time, it's a great -- there's so much atmosphere and you're happy because you have been able to win four tough games and get there. But it was a busy time for me as an assistant and, of course, it's very busy as a head coach. But it's something that I like and I wish I could do it every year. Well, I mean, it's -- for me, it's probably a once in a lifetime opportunity and I'm so thrilled for my players and our university, the city of Salt Lake and the state of Utah and I'm ecstatic about it for my family and friends. I like everything about it except I don't have the time to look at -- to look at any film or to do much preparation. I'm constantly barraged by things that are distracting and I don't quite know how to cope with them. I can't -- North Carolina and Duke and those guys have my unbelievable respect for what they've accomplished in the face of this; they must have this down to a science.

BILL GUTHRIDGE: Go ahead, Rick. Do you want to go first?

RICK MAJERUS: I remember how it was with Coach McGuire and how much it meant to him. I remember when we won in '74 and went to the Final Four and the Michigan fans booed him and he took the microphone at the regional in Alabama and he said, I've lost this a lot of times. My team and I don't deserve this and he was so happy and then I remember him crying when we won it in '77. So those are the memories I have of it and, in terms of paying my dues, I was lucky to ride in on Al and Hank and then work for some terrific coaches like Don Nelson and I think, you know, this is a combination of a professional dream come true for me and I'm happy for everybody. I just wish my dad could see it.

BILL GUTHRIDGE: I think as an assistant coach you spend more time preparing scouting reports. I know Phil Ford and Dave Hanners and Pat Sullivan are doing a lot of that and have been watching tapes and tapes -- each one of them takes one of the teams -- and I used to do that, too -- and now I'm concentrating only on Utah. So I think that might be the biggest difference between being assistant and head coach as far as preparation for the game. And then, as Rick said, there's just so much else that goes along with it that you have to get your priorities right.

RICK MAJERUS: I think, number one, is Dean Smith was a great coach and Bill Guthridge is also a great coach and, number two, they have terrific players, high caliber players who are very talented and unselfish and they play in the best league. I've said that, at times, I think, without question, hesitation or reservation, the ACC is the best league and I think that all you got to do is go down to Carolina. I would actually live in a Holiday Inn to live in Chapel Hill.

BILL GUTHRIDGE: I think we get good players and, of course, we've had Dean Smith, who has been such a great coach, and has trained these players that are playing now and trained me and Mike Krzyzewski, of course, is a great coach and Kentucky has had great coach, but we get good players, too. But I think there are certainly others that you have to mention in this in Kansas and Arizona and Rick's got a heck of a program going there at Utah now and I think you'll be seeing a lot more of them in situations like this. But you have to be good and you have to be lucky, too, to get there.

RICK MAJERUS: Well, with the "triangle and two," we're at 29 and 3 and we've used it in one game and we've -- we have a tremendous record over the last decade and we've used it in 11 games. So it was -- we were fortunate it was able to work the last game and, in terms of their big guys, their big guys are difficult to defend because, number one, you have to run with them, two, you have to block them out, and thirdly, they're so quick on their feet a second and third time and they're blockers extraordinare. So we've got to try and not be intimidated by their shot blocking, hope that we can get up and down the floor with them or get some them with our smalls to them and maybe try to limit their touches to a certain extent.

BILL GUTHRIDGE: If I did all that, we would take up the rest of the time and I would miss lunch. So let me just say this: George Carl and I are close friends, but I can guarantee one thing, that he would stand in front of a bus for Dean Smith and let it run over his foot for Bill. But George and I talked after that game that night. George's wife has got a secret crush on me and I think she sees me as a Redford kind of person. But what happened is, George and I talked about press alignments that night and he gave me a couple of tips there and I've gone to his training camp and we're good friends. And I really can't say enough about Coach Smith, Guthridge and all those guys, I admire them, I respect them. My admiration for Dean Smith and what he's accomplished is second to none and Bill Guthridge was like Hank Raymonds, even more so, to sit on that bench for 30 years. Like I said, if Dean one was one, Bill was -- (INAUDIBLE) -- and Coach Smith would be the first guy to acknowledge it, I think.

RICK MAJERUS: Go ahead, Bill, please.

BILL GUTHRIDGE: I think my first impression or my first time I was scared was at our first practice and then I was scared our first exhibition game, our first regular game, our first road trip, but I think I have that all out of the way now and all these are important games and I don't believe that will be a factor. All of these coaches -- Tubby and Mike and Rick -- are great coaches that have had great success. They haven't been head coaches in the Final Four, but they've had great success against very good competition and I don't think it would will be a problem -- I think they'll be great coaches.

RICK MAJERUS: You know, what I'm trying to do is just treat it like it's -- I've tried to treat every game that way, whether it's a Cardinals' stretch or Arizona. I really try not to prepare with any more passion or preparation. Obviously, adrenaline is going to take over on the player's part, but my concern is that I don't deviate from the normal preparation and get my players too -- too tentative or try to get them too tight.

BILL GUTHRIDGE: Being assistant here -- '67, '68 was my first year and we went to the Final Four and it was a great thrill. I had been to the Final Four as Tex Winner's assistant in 1964 and -- as a player, although I didn't play in the game in '58 -- it's just a great thrill and I think Coach Smith always wanted me to think in terms of a head coach what decisions I would make and I think that has helped me. And we certainly respect Utah. I think they're a great team. I've never seen a team cut another team apart the way that Utah did Arizona in studying the tape. It was really something, that everything that Utah did, Arizona couldn't answer. It was a great exhibition.

RICK MAJERUS: And the question for me?

RICK MAJERUS: Well, they're disciplined, they're athletic, they use terrific extended defenses, they're a very solid man-to-man in the half court and they really share the ball and get the ball to -- Williams can sting outside, Jameson inside, Cota is extremely unselfish and Carter could be the best prospect of the lot and then, the other three -- I mean, they're -- there are a lot of problems, but the most of which is they're just a damn good team.

BILL GUTHRIDGE: Jody, I'm trying to be as close as I can to just like Dean Smith. I admire him so much, he's taught me how -- I think our team would be acting the same way if he were the coach. We're a veteran team and Dean always said that if you make fancy plays out there, as long as they're successful, he's for them, and I would go to war with my players. I love them. I think they're great young men and they certainly have played for and I think that's all any coach can ask for.

RICK MAJERUS: My question is, I really don't -- I want to tell you something. I haven't seen Carolina very much up until this week. I watched them occasionally because I like them and I pull for them. Now that I've watched a lot of tape -- I think Bill has done a wonderful job. If it's not broke, don't try to fix it. I can't see -- there's -- The differences are hardly discernible, they play so well.

RICK MAJERUS: My president called last night and said he was going to give me a parking spot. I hadn't had one of those until we got to the Final Four. I don't think I'm going to get the Dean Smith parking spot, but I just want to be in the lot. They're a hot commodity, those parking places. We're a commuter school, to a certain extent. Other than that, I think we want everyone to get on the bandwagon. I mean, I don't begrudge people if they haven't been an Utah fan and they want to jump on. So it's just been tremendous. But we've had great support all year long. We've had terrific support since I've come here. I couldn't have been more embraced by a community or couldn't have been more welcomed by a university, coming in as an outsider nine years ago. This is a terrific place and I don't think that our wining has changed it. I think people are just excited and happy for us and sharing -- want to share in the players' success and that's really about it, to tell you the truth.